People who use journals and notebooks often need a writing instrument. More often than not, the journal or notebook does not contain an integrated holder for such an instrument, so the user must carry the instrument separately. This can result in the user forgetting or losing the instrument. This also pertains to textbooks and the need to carry a highlighter. It is inconvenient to have the book and writing instrument separated, especially when the user is on-the-go and doesn't want to carry a backpack, briefcase, or other carrying case, in which one might normally store a pen or highlighter. The device of the present invention overcomes this problem by attaching the writing instrument to the book so the user will never forget it. It also functions as a bookmark or book closure device.
Examples of prior art include elastic bookmark and writing instrument combinations such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,800 to Gonot, Jr. et al. (1979) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,367 B2 to McClosky (2002).
Gonot's invention is a simple elastic loop with two transverse slits, which allows a pen to be held within these slits. Although it is simple and easy to manufacture, there are some distinct disadvantages of this design: 1) Since the slits are made in the elastic, they will be spaced at different distances as the elastic is stretched, depending on the size of the book. This may cause the holder to no longer receive the pen; 2) The holder is limited in the length and diameter of the pen to which it can receive; 3) Since the pen is held on the face of the book, the book can no longer be stacked with other books, as the cover is no longer flat. This can be problematic when storing books in a backpack or on a bookshelf. 4) The holder is not easy to quickly attach or remove from the book.
McClosky's design contains an elastic member with a pouch to hold a writing instrument and a separate ribbon with a bookmark/placesaver. As with Gonot's design, since the pen is held on the face of the book, the book can no longer be stacked with other books, as the cover is no longer flat. This can be problematic when storing books in a backpack or on a bookshelf. Also, the holder is not easy to quickly attach or remove from the book. All the additional components in this design (hook and loop, placesaver, etc) make it more complex and expensive to manufacture.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a writing instrument holder, which can be easily attached to and removed from a book, which provides easy access to the writing instrument while using the book, which provides the convenience of a bookmark or book closure device, which does not prevent the book from being stored conveniently, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which will present a large surface for the reception of graphics, including company logos, artwork, text, etc.